


Rise from the Ashes

by A Magiluna Stormwriter (ariestess)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Community: onceuponaland, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-13
Updated: 2012-04-13
Packaged: 2017-11-27 01:40:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/656603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariestess/pseuds/A%20Magiluna%20Stormwriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Why is that apple tree so important to Regina?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rise from the Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> Date Written: 13 April 2012  
> Word Count: 1010  
> Written for: [](http://onceuponaland.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://onceuponaland.livejournal.com/)**onceuponaland** 's Round 2 mini-bang  
> Summary: Why is that apple tree so important to Regina?  
> Spoilers: Just consider the entire series up for grabs, okay?  
> Warnings: mention of character death  
> Website: ShatterStorm Productions – Doggie Duo  
> Link to: <http://bdkk.shatterstorm.net/>  
> Archive: ShatterStorm Productions & AO3 only…all others ask for permission & we'll see…
> 
> Author’s Disclaimer: "Once Upon a Tme," the characters, and situations depicted are the property of Adam Horowitz, Edward Kitsis, Kitsis/Horowitz, and ABC Studios. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. This site is in no way affiliated with "Once Upon a Time," ABC, or any representatives of the actors.
> 
> Author’s Notes: This was definitely a different story for me to write. I've had this idea for a while in my headcanon where there's more to Regina's apple tree than meets the eye. And let's not even go anywhere near my disdain for the fact that TPTB don't know the difference between a Honeycrisp apple and a Red Delicious apple. The apples that are on Regina's tree are most definitely _not_ Honeycrisp apples, regardless of what they say on the show. I eat Honeycrisp apples on a regular basis and they don't look like that.
> 
> Dedication: My muses, just because…
> 
> Beta: [](http://shatterpath.dreamwidth.org/profile)[](http://shatterpath.dreamwidth.org/)**shatterpath** , but any remaining mistakes are totally on me.

Regina settles back against the sturdy trunk of her beloved apple tree, ignoring the rough bits of bark digging into her back. With a sigh, she wraps her arms around her pulled-up knees and glances through the canopy to the full orb of the moon in the sky.

"Oh, Daniel," she says softly, "can you see the moon from where you are?"

She waits for an answer she knows will never come, but still she waits with bated breath and hope flaring in her chest. Only the faint rustling of the wind through the leaves answers her.

"I miss you, my love, so much more than words can ever express. The transition from our land to Storybrooke hasn't lessened the ache one bit. Only Henry's presence has made life the slightest bit tolerable."

The wind sighs through the trees again, and Regina will swear on all that she holds dear that a hand strokes across her cheek. A very familiar, roughly callused hand that she hasn't felt in more years than she cares to count, and tears fill her eyes.

"Please don't let this be some illusion," she whispers, leaning into that ghostly touch. "Daniel, if it's really you, give me a sign."

The words barely pass her lips when one of the largest of her beloved apples falls into her lap. The sight of that blood red fruit propels her back to a life she may never get back.

***

"You have to allow her the opportunity to bury the boy, Cora," Henry argues, and hope briefly squelches the overwhelming grief in Regina's chest.

"Why?" comes the haughty reply. "Because she loved him? Because he deserves it? You're growing softer with time, Henry, and you coddle her too much."

"I treat her like my child, not my property," he retorts.

Cora whirls around to stare at her husband and the daughter huddled behind him. "I only do what's best for her and her future. Perhaps you could learn a few lessons in that area."

Regina feels her mother's eyes boring into her, but refuses to rise to the bait of meeting her gaze. She curls in on herself more tightly, fist tightening around the brass ring in her palm. Thankfully she's been able to keep it from her mother's knowledge.

"Besides, there's nothing to bury. He was a flea-ridden stable boy and I had him burned this morning with the rest of the flea-infested refuse in the barn."

Regina's face goes white at her mother's casual dismissal of the man she loves -- loved -- more than anything in the world. She forces herself to take deep breaths to hold back the urge to vomit on the spot. That would do her no favors in her mother's eyes. She glances up tentatively at the rustling of fabric and sees her mother turn to leave the room. Only when she's sure that her mother is gone does she let the tears fall.

"Regina--"

"No, Daddy," she says, cutting him off in a far steadier tone than she expects. "I can't let her ruin my love for him, no matter what she's done."

She takes a deep breath and heads out toward the barn. Her father follows behind her, but she ignores him as a plan begins to form in her mind. Stopping behind the barn, she finds the ash pile, still throwing off a faint bit of heat. She gratefully takes the bucket and shovel from her father and fills it to the top with the ashes. Together, they haul it out to her beloved apple tree in the grove. Only the sound of the wind sighing through the trees accompanies their digging of the trench around her tree.

Regina kneels down in front of the tree, resting her hand on the bucket's rim, as Henry steps back to allow her some privacy. She blinks and wipes at the tears still slipping down her cheeks, belatedly realizing that she's streaked some of the ashes across her skin.

"I don't care what she did," she whispers as she begins to pour the ashes into the trench. "You were not just garbage to be discarded, Daniel. You were -- _are_ \-- my only love and you will be with me forever. Blend your soul, your love, with the life of this tree."

She knows she's doing magic -- something she abhors, thanks to her mother -- but it's the right thing to do in this instant. When all of the ashes are placed around the tree, she is startled to find a small dagger's hilt being held out to her. Glancing up, she smiles gratefully at her father as she takes it. With a deep breath, she draws the blade across her left palm and watches the blood well up, rich crimson. Tilting her hand, Regina watches as her blood drips down to mingle with the ashes and soil that nourishes the tree.

"We are bound forever in this tree, Daniel, and nothing will ever separate us."

***

With a soft sigh, Regina strokes the apple's shiny skin before taking a bite. The fruit is bittersweet, with the faintest metallic tang of blood. The only other person who tasted that when eating her apples was her father, and he knew why they tasted like that. Everyone else tastes the sweet flesh of the Honeycrisp apples. They all think she has a new variety of Red Delicious apples.

No one has ever noticed that her apples are perfectly shaped hearts, just that they are the largest and sweetest apples they've ever tasted. Everyone covets her apples, but she doesn't often share them. Only her father knew why her apples changed in that single season of growing from the mottled red and yellow patterns of the Honeycrisp to the blood red of the Red Delicious.

And here in Storybrooke, only she knows that her beloved stable boy lives within her beloved tree.

"We are bound forever in this tree, Daniel," she whispers between bites, "and nothing will ever separate us. Not even death."


End file.
